Strategies

Some knowledge of Latin American history and politics from the 1820s to modern day

Knowledge of the role of religious beliefs, especially those of the Roman Catholic Church

Some knowledge of Western documents advocating freedoms/liberties like the English Bill of Rights, French Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Hook: Ask the students to define the term “human rights” as best they can. Ask the students for examples of human rights. Do/should human rights vary by culture, religion, ethnicity, or socio-economic class/status?

Have the students read Source 5: Law, Maternity Leave. How has Cuba responded to this issue? Why do you think Cuba responded differently than Uruguay?

Have the students read Source 4: Newspaper, Domestic Violence. Is the violence against men a response to violence against women or something else? Should the law treat women abusers differently than men?

Reproductive Issues for Women in Latin America: Have the students read Part 1 of Source 2: Official Document, Women’s Status. Ask why they think there are no accurate statistics for women’s mortality in the countries surveyed. Why are maternal mortality rates so high? Why are abortion mortalities so high? What options do women have? Why is the mortality rate so much lower in the United States?

Should the government have the ability to regulate reproduction to avoid further stress on welfare programs?

To what extent does religion help dictate existing policy?

Differentiation

Advanced Students: Depending on your students and your comfort and familiarity, discuss China’s one child per family policy, which began in the early 1980s. You might also want to compare it to India’s failed attempts to control population in the 1970s.

Less Advanced Students: Do more of the document investigation either in groups (reading partners/buddies) where the students read the documents to each other and work together to fill out the document analysis sheets, or as a class—reading the documents aloud and filling in the sheets to try to ensure comprehension. To build vocabulary, have the students identify words needing clarification. Assemble a list on the board. Have dictionaries scattered through the room (ideally one per group) for student reference. This could also be done as a group brainstorm.

For the DBQ, have students fill out the Essay Writing Guide Worksheet and evaluate it based on use of evidence and structure before having the students write out the full DBQ.